The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

This psalm is one of the most memorized of the bible behind the 23rd. This pearl among the Psalms has given help to so many with broken dreams and shattered hopes. It has lifted up the head of so many and given them courage to run on in time of sorrow and sadness. This Psalm has help so many stand in the time of battle against formidable enemies and destroyed the yoke of fear that cripples ones faith. When all other ground was sinking sand someone grabbed this magnificent word and it gave them the strength to make it through. With a world filled with fears one must have assurance God is in your corner. Indeed, this Psalm is one of the favorite of many of God's people.

David starts out this most beautiful and magnificent Psalm by declaring what the Lord is to him. I believe for one to live for God in this troubled world you must know who God is, and know what He is to you. Not what He is to somebody else but to you! One must have a firm foundation and know who God is that they trust and stand in times of great fear. No one knows when this psalm was written whether it was when his son Absalom revolted against him and wanted to be king, or when he was being hounded by Saul, David had fears but his fears were cancelled out by His faith. See faith and fear are mortal enemies, now all people have fears. Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "we have nothing to fear but fear itself." See, fear will rob you of your dreams, fear will make you give up without a fight, fear will erode your confidence, fear will steal your joy! No matter how young or old we all have fears. There are things that go bump in the night, children are afraid to look under the bed, that there is monster in the closet or that the boogey man comes out at night, and these are real fears when you young.

But as we get older these fears are replaced with new ones. When you grow up there are greater fears that consume your thoughts. Fears of sickness, financial burdens, relationships problems, death and dying, being disabled, we are bombarded with fears, but your faith can conquers all your fears. Fear comes from the devil and God does not give His children the spirit of fear, 1 John 4:18 (KJV)18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. God's love for you is perfect, God's blessings and favor are upon His children, He cares for you, He wants you to prosper as your soul. God told Abram to "fear not I'm your shield" when He had to go after Lot His brother, He told Hagar "fear not when her son was dying in the desert of thirst , He told Moses, "fear not to go down into Egypt and tell Pharoah Let my people go, He told Joshua "fear not I have delivered your enemies into your hands." Someone said there are 366 fear not's in the bible, one for every day of the year and one extra for leap year! You don't have to fear the world or what it holds , don't be afraid of the terror by night or the arrow that flieth by day, because God holds you in His hand! You covered by His blood, filled with the Holy Spirit, empowered by His word, and position in His Son! Can I get a witness! So when fears overwhelm what do you do, you declare your confidence in God just as David did.David begins saying, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; David says the Lord is his light! In a dark ominous and foreboding world He says "the Lord is my Light." David says, the Lord is the source of light in my life, He's the one that leads me, He's my guide, I walk by the light of His word. See, without God's truth in your life you walking in darkness. Albert Barnes says, "Darkness is the emblem of distress, perplexity, and sin that leads to sorrow; light is the emblem of the opposite of these. Notice, David says "The Lord is my light." He does not say the Lord is light, but He is my Light. He does not say the Lord gives light, but he says, He is my light! The believer must make God the light of their life.

​Without God in your life you walking in darkness. If you living by the world standards, by the worlds truth, you walking in darkness. David, is saying the Lord directs my path, He orders my footsteps. When the lord is your light you live by His commandments, your life is governed by His statues. There is peace in your life because you are living by the truth walking in the true revelation of His word. The first thing God did when He created the world was create the light and separated the light from the darkness. The Bible declares God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Ps. 84:11 says He will be your Sun and Shield. Mica 7:8 says when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me! Darkness is destroyed when the light is present. When you receive Jesus as Lord in your life, light comes in, truth comes in, peace, love comes in and we become a new creature in Christ Jesus. John 8:12 (KJV) Jesus said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John said, "In Jesus is life and He is the Light of Men." Allow Him to be your truth for living, to be your guide, His life in you becomes the light of your life. After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our light; he is light within, light around, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us.

A song writer wrote "Walk in the light beautiful light come where the dew drops of mercy shine bright shine all around me by day and by night, Jesus, Mary's baby, Jesus Son of the Living God, Jesus Morning Star, Jesus the Hill higher than I, Jesus the little of the valley, Jesus, the rock the builders rejected, Jesus my strong tower, Jesus, Jesus the light of my. And this little light of mine I'm gonna let shine, let it shine, let it shine. Jesus gave me this little light!

Then David says "the Lord is my salvation," Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. To save is to deliver or protect. The word (Salvation)carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation. Sometimes, the Bible uses the words saved or salvation to refer to temporal, physical deliverance, but more often, the word “salvation” concerns an eternal, spiritual deliverance. David is saying, He's my deliverer, my liberator, my defender, my keeper, my everything. David is declaring He has been my salvation and is my salvation. He brought me through when I met that uncircumcised Philistine, when I fought that Lion and the bear, when Saul was hurling spears at me, the Lord was my deliverer, my strong tower, my refuge. David does not just say the Lord gives Salvation but He is my Salvation. And listen everyone needs saving, and anybody can be saved. God saves us from us, and saves us from sin, death and the grave. It was the Lord saved you, kept you, delivered you, when you were not fit to live and afraid to die, so all of us here could join in with David and say If it had not been for the Lord, can I get a witness. Psalm 37:39 (KJV)39 But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble. When fears come in like a flood, when troubles arise He is our strength, the righteous can hide in His pavilion, rest in His bosom until the storm has passed over. The doctor might say your sickness is terminal but trust in God, He is able to save to the uttermost. Crushed down to the ground He is able to lift you up again, broken and wounded He is able to heal, the world will say you can't but says you can! I can do all Things!

Isaiah 12:2 (KJV)2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

When Moses and the Israelite children were trapped at the Red Sea Pharaohs army coming from behind, did not God say Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." When Hanna womb had dried up and could not have a child she prayed and God made her conceive, she cried I rejoice in thy Salvation. When David was delivered from all his enemies he said, In Ps 18:2 2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Ps. 20 He says I will rejoice in thy salvation, in Ps 25 He says, lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation. Church

He is my way out of no way, He is my bridge over trouble waters, He is my ever present help, He is my life raft out on the stormy seas, He is the wind beneath my wings, He is my battle axe in time of battle, He is my joy in sorrow and my hope for tomorrow. Can I get one witness, He's my lilly of the valley, my shepherd and shield, my wheel in the midle of the wheel, anybody know Him?

Can you make the claim of David, can you say The Lord is my light and my salvation! I will wait on the God of my salvation.

Now David says, The lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid." David was human just like all men but David said while I am afraid I will trust. The Bible says God is the saving strength of the anointed, He is my refuge and my strength a very present help in time of trouble.

He is able to be a leader and a guide,

He's able to keep and protect,

He's able to deliver and set free,

He's able to open doors,

He's able make your enemies your footstool,

He's able to turn your life around,

place your feet, so lift up your head oh ye gates......

He's able, ain't the Lord alright!!!!! Yeah..Oh yeah...

John 3:17-21 (KJV)17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

"Mercy, Grace and Judgment"

Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Grace is unmerited favor. And judgment is the penalty for committing offense. Today's lesson ought to be a word of hope to the guilty sinner and a word of assurance to the believer. John the revelator, or as the old folk called Him "I John" gives us the great message of the mission of Jesus here among men. The foundation of our faith is grounded in John 3:16 which every saint should have memorized for it tells us the great love of God and the proof of God's love is the incarnation. John 6:37-38 (KJV) says,37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." Jesus was sent, He was on mission, a divine messenger sent by God. Jesus said in John 9:4 (KJV) 4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. He was sent to do a work, to complete the bridge of salvation, to break the yoke of sin, to tear down the middle wall of separation between God and man. Jesus was the instrument of reconciliation, the lamb sacrificed for atonement, He picked up the cross and lay down His life, "that whosoever call on the name of Jesus would be saved"! Christ was sent to save us. His purpose was to save us from perishing and to save us to eternal life.John says, the purpose of Jesus coming "was not to condemn" or judge the world but to save the world. Thanks be to God! The world deserved and needed to be judged or condemned, for the world was guilty. But Luke 19:10 (NIV) tells us 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Then in John 12:47 (NIV)47 "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. Jesus came in mercy to save that which was lost.

The word translated "sent" here is apostello, the word from which we derive our word apostle. It carries with it the idea of sending someone forth as a messenger on a mission. That the Son of God was sent into the world, He came to us for we could not go to him. We cannot understand it, it is beyond our thinking , His ways or higher than ours and we cannot obtain it. From before the world, the Father sent the Son and the Son was ever willing to come. God had no pleasure in burnt offering and sacrifices so He prepared a body and came among men to do the masters will.John says, "He that believeth on him is not condemned." John 5:24 (KJV)24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Hear the word with the spiritual ear, receive the word into the heart, and walk accordingly has the gift of eternal life. Lot of people hear the word but change not, a believer allows the word to become fruitful, produce results, bring a change in their life. When one believes in Jesus and the WORD of truth you have confidence in Him and what He said. When you believe you rely on Him. When you believe, really believe, you trust His merits and stand on His promises. Though your sins as scarlet, though a wretch undone sinking to rise no more, with the stench of sin and the mark of death, you trust in His holy word He can save to uttermost. He that believeth on Him! In order for Jesus to save you, you got to believe He can save you. You got to believe, that the cross of Christpurged your sin, that the blood of Christ makes white as snow, that His sacrifice paid it all, that He rose for your justification. The believer, the word says is not condemned! The believer is pardoned, in order to get a pardon you been convicted and guilty, you deserve punishment but you set free, you delivered, see Jesus came to set at liberty them held captive by sin, if you believe. Oh Bless His name, He died our death, took our punishment, He became sin for us, He broke the yoke of sin, wiped our slate clean, and by His stripes we are healed. Somebody ought to praise Him! What a Mighty God we serve!

our Text says,...but he that believeth not is condemned already. Mark 16:16 (NIV) says,16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Well how are they condemned? And what are the unbelievers condemned to? They are condemned in their own soul and mind. See when we go against the word of truth and live any kind of life we are condemned in our mind. God gave man an inner knowledge of the holy and what is right. Oh' you can do wrong but you know right and when you do wrong you feel the condemnation of God. You don't have to agree with me but I know I'm right! Then we are condemned by the Word! The truth of God's word condemns us and robs us of inner peace when we sin against God. The light has come and men deny the light because they love darkness. But because Jesus "the light of the world has come" we are condemned for denying the only savior, rejecting the mercy of God, and despising the gospel. Then the unbeliever is condemned to death separation from God forever in the lake of fire, they are denied the peace and felicity of God's presence forever. Condemned to live without God.

Second coming Now Jesus on His second coming will be coming to Judge and condemn the unbeliever. Matthew 16:27 (NIV) says,27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. The first incarnation He came to save, to preach the redeeming grace of God, to show God's grace and mercy, to become the lamb slain, to be the propitiation for our sin, to redeem all that fall upon their knees and cry holy unto the Lord. But the second time He's coming to judge the world.

2 Timothy 4:1 (KJV)Paul says, 1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; He's coming back again! But if you believe in the Father, trust in the Son and walking in the Holy Spirit, if your sins are covered by the blood, if you confessed with your mouth believe in your heart, Romans 8:1 (KJV)1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

John 6:40 (NIV)40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." I'm standing on God's word, I trusting in His promises, and I'm running for my life. I'm striving to make 100 because 99 1/2 just want do.